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ESPN Friday Night Fights Recap

September 7, 2007

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino-Biloxi, Mississippi

The host venue for tonight's show is on the shoreline of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It was re-opened only 2 months prior to this event, and this is the first boxing event the casino has held according to boxrec.com.

Welterweight (147 pounds) 10-Round Match:

Zab Judah (34-5 (2 NC), 25 KO's, 148.75 pounds) vs. Edwin Vazquez (22-10-2, 8 KO's, 148.75 pounds)

Judah is coming off 3 straight controversial matches. The first was the well chronicled match with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. That match saw Judah involved in a much documented mini-riot during the match, which earned the Brooklyn native a $250,000 fine and a 1 year suspension.

Judah's return the ring following the suspension ended in a no contest. A cut on his opponent, Ruben Galvan, forced a stoppage in round 1. It was unclear if the cut was caused by a punch or the left elbow of Judah. The referee ruled that it was the elbow and days of video review were unable to overturn the call.

The last Judah match versus Miguel Cotto, which many people think is one of the best matches this year, was marred by controversy, after Judah was fouled twice. A left uppercut in round 1 and a right uppercut in round 3 to Judah's "twig and berries" (Judah said they both caught mostly twig) sent the southpaw to the mat. Judah appeared to take an insufficient amount of time to recover after both fouls, which may have aided in him being stopped in round 11 via technical knockout.

Teddy Atlas believes that even after these losses Judah is an elite athlete with great skills. The question mark for Judah has been mentally and emotionally. Judah was suspended from boxing twice because he lost mental and emotional control in the ring. The second being during the Mayweather match, but he had been suspended earlier for going after a referee following a match in 2001. Not having the composure to take time to recover from the low blows in the Cotto match is another example of Judah's lack of in ring emotional control. Instead of taking the time to recover, he wanted to prove how tough he was and get back to action quickly and that may have cost him the match. Also,  Adam "Pacman" Jones was at Judah's return match in April and called Judah his best friend. That might not be a mental mistake in the ring, however since Jones was allegedly involved in his second strip club shooting of the year in June, it may not be the best thing for Judah's boxing career to be around when Jones decides to "make it rain".

Judah is the number 5 ranked contender at 147 pounds by Ring magazine to their champion at the weight class, Mayweather.

Vazquez is a safe opponent for Judah to begin rebuilding his record against. The native of Puerto Rico still resides on the island, and has had his most professional boxing success there. Vazquez is 3-6-1 outside of Puerto Rico. His last win outside of Puerto Rico was a 10-round majority decision over Aaron Zarate, at the Mahi Shrine Temple in Miami, Florida, on June 27, 1997. Vazquez' last match was a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Ricky Hatton's younger brother Matthew Hatton for the IBF Inter-Continental Championship. That match was part of the undercard of the event featuring the elder Hatton's victory over Jose Luis Castillo at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 23, 2007. 

Vazquez is the number 153 ranked boxer at 154 pounds by boxrec.com. Vazquez' previous 2 matches to this one have been at 147, but he missed making weight for the Hatton match by 2 pounds. That explains why Vazquez remains ranked in the 154 pound division.

Judah is 29-years-old, while Vazquez is 35-years-old. Vazquez has the height advantage, standing 5' 8" tall, compared to Judah, who stands 5' 7" tall. Boxrec.com lists Judah with a 72" wingspan, and Vazquez with a 28.5" arm length. Judah will employ the southpaw stance, and Vazquez will box out of the orthodox stance.

If, Judah can finish this match quickly his younger brother Josiah Judah may appear on the televised portion of this show. With 15 seconds to go in round 1, there is an accidental clash of heads. Vazquez dove in with his head behind a punch and headbutted Judah in the mouth. Judah appears okay enough, and the match continues without an official pause in the action. Judah wins round 1, 10-9. Throughout round 1, Judah made the same mistake that Hall of Famer Pernell Whitaker pointed out that the southpaw made during the Cotto match, and that was circle to the wrong side. Judah is circling to his left, into the power hand of a boxer in the orthodox stance. The Brooklyn native wins round 2, 10-9.  Judah was on the verge of scoring a knockdown with Vazquez pinned against the ropes as the bell sounded to end round 3. The southpaw has been far more deliberate in this match then in his last few outings. Judah wins round 3, 10-9, and is ahead on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27. Atlas, unofficially has the match scored the same at this point.

With 1:37 to go in round 4, a series of left hands by Judah sends Vazquez falling backwards, but he hooks the top rope and runs into the corner to remain standing. By rule that should be a knockdown, but the referee did not rule that. The outcome of this match should not be effected. With less then 30 seconds to go in round 4, blood is starting to run from both the nose and mouth of Vazquez. The judges will score round 4 for Judah, 10-9. There was a clash of heads at the end of round 4, and it has resulted in a cut above the left eye of Judah. The cut is bleeding into Judah's left eye and effecting his vision. He wiped away at the cut several times during round 5, showing it was bothering him. Vazquez may have won round 5, 10-9. Atlas has scored the match the same to this point and after 5 rounds we both have Judah leading, 49-46.

Judah wins round 6, 10-9. This match has the feeling of a Judah sparring match. Had Judah chosen to push the pace he may have been able to end this match early. Atlas had predicted a round 2 knockout win for Judah. Instead, Judah has shown less interest in this match then his new iPhone (he smartly picked it up this week after the price drop). Judah wins round 7, 10-9. In the corner between rounds 7 and 8, Judah decided he had gotten enough rounds in and it was time to finish the match in style in round 8. Judah never sat down between rounds in true showman like fashion that way everyone knew what was coming. The Brooklyn native looked like a new boxer coming out of the corner, and signaled to the crowd with a fast throat slash gesture that he was finishing the match this round. Despite all the showmanship, Judah was not able to close the show in round 8, but won the round, 10-9. Judah leads on my scorecard after 8 rounds, 79-73. Atlas scored round 6 for Vazquez, 10-9, but had both rounds 7 and 8 for Judah, 10-9. After 8 rounds, Judah leads on Atlas' scorecard, 78-74.

Judah was told to put on a show in the corner before round 9. Judah barely wins round 9, 10-9. Judah could need to win round 10 to secure a victory. He probably lost round 5, and could have lost rounds 6 and 9. Atlas scored round 9 for Judah, 10-9. Judah's corner had a similar change of attitudes between rounds 9 and 10. They told Judah to box in round 10 to win the round and not look for a knockout. Judah wins an uninspiring round 10, 10-9. He wins the match on my unofficial scorecard, 99-91. Atlas scored round 10 for Judah, 10-9, and the match for the southpaw, 98-92.

The official decision as read by Biero is that the judges have scored the match: 97-93, 98-93, 100-90, all to the winner by unanimous decision, Zab "Super" Judah. The win moves Judah to 35-5 with 2 no contests, and 25 of his wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punch track numbers have Judah landing 149 of the 454 total punches he threw, good for a 33% connect percentage. Vazquez landed 118 of the 420 total punches he threw, for a 28% connect percentage.

This was a solid performance by Judah. The match was not competitive, and Judah appeared to be working on different tactics and trying out things in real competition in this match that he could not work on in the gym. This was the definition of a glorified sparring match.

It was a good veteran performance by Vazquez to not fall into the traps that Judah set up for him, that would lead to a knockout. Hopefully, Vazquez can find more lucrative work helping other young top boxers get in competitive rounds at a catch weight of 149 pounds.

Judah gave his post match interview from ringside during the Peterson match and, said he badly injured his left hand. Judah said the injury occurred during round 6 or 7. Joe Tessitore asked Judah about facing Richard Gutierrez in an IBF number one contender match with the winner getting a shot at Kermit Cintron's share of the world championship at 147 pounds. Judah admitted he did not know who Gutierrez was, and that his people would make that call. When asked about Mayweather doing Dancing with the Stars, while preparing for Hatton, Judah said that doing other things while preparing for boxing matches has historically not gone well. (Judah was indirectly referencing Lennox Lewis losing the heavyweight championship days after filming scenes for the movie "Ocean's 11".) Judah says that hopefully it will not mean Mayweather is dancing with the stars in the ring in December.

This show is an easy skip.